Art is one of the best ways to express oneself, and there are a multitude of mediums that are used for artistic expression as well. Over the years, artists have been coming up with more out-of-the-box methods to share their talents with the world, spanning from a single painting on a piece of canvas in your bedroom all the way to a single sculpture that is absolutely crucial to a city’s identity. Artistic expression in the form of murals, statues, architecture is important for growth within the city. It encourages and welcomes culture, and gives a city its own unique personality.
Lumiflon FEVE resin has aided in helping artists immortalize their visions, and it continues to be an ideal choice for various works of art.
In Perth, Western Australia, at Elizabeth Quay, the world’s largest freestanding structure made of carbon fiber, Spanda, has emerged as a major site in the city. Inspired by the concept of Kashmir Śaiva, sculptor Christian de Vietri created the structure. He described Spanda as, “Open, radiant, inclusive.” He continues, “These are the qualities I wished the sculpture to embody. Spanda is a kind of womb space for the city, where exalted experience and expanded states of being are born. The dimensions of the human body were used as a starting point for designing the form. In fact, the whole sculpture was designed with human interactivity and bodily presence in mind.” A coating system, A&I Coatings’ Vitreflon, utilizing Lumiflon FEVE resin technology was used to ensure the sculpture’s longevity.
In Manhattan, an eight-story sculpture enriched with Lumiflon FEVE resin is mounted on a residential. Named “River That Flows Both Ways,” the work was created by sculpture Stephen Glassman, who was inspired by the Hudson River. Glassman stated, “VIA, a skyscraper began as a singular vertical statement, but in the end, it became a symbol of open space, neighborhood, horizon.” The sculpture is comprised of approximately 400 pipe clusters that were given a powder coating system from Tnemec. Project coatings consultant Dustin Kaatz of TPC Consultants, Inc. states, “In addition to resisting ultraviolet (UV) light exposure, these high-solids metallic finish coatings provided the sheen and reflectance Glassman Studio wanted for this very impressive installation. They are also compliant with New York’s environmental regulations requiring low-volatile compound (VOC) materials.”
Selecting a coatings system with superior color and gloss retention properties is useful when a more vibrant color is selected for a work of art. Case in point: the Ghost Ballet sculpture in Nashville. This bright red addition to the Nashville skyline has become a famous site on the Cumberland River. Given the sculpture’s location, exposed to water and UV radiation, and its vibrant red hue, the selection of an FEVE-based coating would prove beneficial to the work of art.
Tiffany Goulet, Tnemec representative with NexGen Coating Resources, explained, “Red is a popular color used for bridges in downtown Nashville and the NFL’s Titan Stadium. City officials have seen what happens when red fades over time, so they wanted a coating system with long-term color and gloss retention.”